Reflections Magazine Issue #69 - Spring 2009 | Page 15

Campus Feature

SHU Special Education Program
Meeting a National Need

H

ow great is the need for special education teachers?
School districts in places like Texas are offering signing bonuses to lure the best and
brightest special education teachers to their
areas. Locally, statistics showed in 2006 that
approximately 12 percent of all school-age
children in Lenawee County, Mich., receive
special education services.
Siena Heights University recognized this
need – and responded to it – when it started
a special education bachelor’s degree program approximately two years ago. It has
since added a master’s degree program. Although the program is still developing, the
initial response has been overwhelmingly
positive, according to program director Dr.
Martha Carroll.
Carroll, who taught and was the chair of the
Education Department at the University of
Toledo before retiring in 2000, said Siena’s
program started with a learning disabilities
(LD) concentration to allow teachers the
greatest career flexibility. Carroll said there
is one prerequisite every student must have
before entering the SHU program.
“You have to meet the qualification of passion,” she said. “You either have the passion
or you don’t. That’s one of the things I look
for. Don’t just mark the time, because you
are going to be out working with children.
If you have difficulty, change majors. And I
encourage change when there is not a fit.”
SHU junior special education major Sydney
Estrada said she has that passion. “I took a
special education course and knew instantly
that special education was a great fit for me,”
Estrada said.
And for those who find out they don’t have
that passion for special education, Siena
Heights allows students the ability to switch
directions early on in the program. If a
student realizes special education isn’t the
right fit, then he or she can move into an
elementary or secondary education path
seamlessly.
Trudy Kelly, a SHU special education graduate student, is currently taking a full course
load of and working full-time as a kindergarten teacher. She said the personal attention
Siena’s program has given her has made all
the difference.

“It has been very demanding, but I am still
alive,” said Kelly, whose husband is also enrolled in the special education graduate program at SHU. “It is a lot of reading and a lot
of presentations. But I am breathing a sigh
of relief because it seems like I can actually
accomplish what I need to do. … This is the
friendliest university I have ever witnessed!”
Carroll said what also makes Siena’s program
distinctive is its heavy field component.
“When you get students out in the field, you
build excitement,” she said of the hands-on
learning experience.
“What I like most about Siena’s special
education program is the amount of time
spent out in the field, actually gaining firsthand experience,” Estrada said. “I apply what
I learn from my instructors when I observe
in a classroom. When I am able to apply
what I learn, I have a better understanding
for the material.”
Special education is not just about educating the student, but educating families as
well. “We spend a lot of time with the family,” Carroll said. “Students learn families as a
system and how the interactions go, what
the needs are and what the functions of the
family are. If the university student can have
a handle on that as a teacher, then they can
better work as a partnership with the family.
It’s not the teacher saying, ‘Here’s what you
need to do as a family.’ It’s the teacher listening to the family. What are your needs?”
Carroll said teachers with elementary or
secondary certification who want to enter
special education can complete six credit
hours of special education courses and
receive an emergency certificate. In fact,
Carroll said the need is so great that California currently has approximately 4,000
people teaching special education with
emergency certificates. She said there’s a
similar need in Michigan as well, and Siena
Heights is helping to meet that need.
“We wanted to develop an excellent program, and we did,” said Carroll of the development of SHU’s program. “I think we have
something very unique.”

Reflections Spring ’09

15